


Immortal

by Polarnacht



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boys In Love, First Kiss, Freedom, Happy Ending, Kissing, Love, M/M, Songfic, defying authorities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25578412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polarnacht/pseuds/Polarnacht
Summary: Jace and Alec meet in the London Institute when they are kids and they fall for each other. But the Shadow World is about to be ripped apart and suddenly, they find each other on opposite sides of a war their parents are leading, the Lightwoods choosing the Clave’s side over Valentine’s.But they are granted one night, one night where they are free to be with each other, to love each other. One night to be immortal until the morning sun makes them mortal again.Jace and Alec have the same age in this story, they are both 17. (And they do get a happy ending.)
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Immortal

**Author's Note:**

> The song that inspired me is called Unsterblich (Immortal) and is from the German band "Die Toten Hosen" - please refer to the end notes for the original lyrics.  
> The English version of the song is my own translation.

Immortal

The Shadow World was devided – quite literally. One part was ruled by the Circle under Valentine’s command, the other part was run by the Clave. There was only Idris left as neutral ground, the home country of the Shadowhunters not pledging any allegiances. But not only countries were divided and had been torn apart, so had been families, friends, lovers. With the Circle’s Uprising, a putsch against the Clave, there had suddenly been the need to declare on which side you stood. If you stood on the side of Valentine and his Circle, who wanted to rule the Downworld with an iron fist, putting Shadowhunters high above anybody else, or if you wanted to side with the Clave, who wanted also to rule, but in a more moderate way.

Whole families and members of Institutes had to flee when they found themselves in the wrong area. They sought refuge in other countries and Institutes. Soon, there was a war going on, not yet an open one with huge battles, but a war with smaller ones, making the Shadowhunters nearly forget what their actual mandate was: keep the demons in check and fight against the evil that not carried the face of a former friend or acquaintance. The evil felt that the good – or the less evil – were as weak as they hadn’t been for centuries, weakened by their own greed for power. The evil overrun earth with a never ending stream of demons and hell creatures, so many of them that even Valentine and the Clave had to give in an arrange for peace negotiations in Idris.

Idris was a country in the middle of Europe, hidden to mundanes’ eyes by powerful glamours. They were old fashioned in Idris, there was no telecommunication, no cars, no public transport. Instead there were fire messages, horses and boats. Idris was surrounded by forests and lakes. Next to the cursed Lake Lynn there were other ones, beautiful lakes with boats where you could go swimming and fishing, as if not your world was going to burn down to ashes the next moment.

The Lightwoods had pledged their allegiance to the Clave right after the Uprising, leaving behind their old friends and allies. It had not been an easy choice, but in the end, Maryse had won this fight, as she won most others. She had had the feeling that the Clave was stronger than the Circle, thus choosing their side. She didn’t care much about ideals or values, she just wanted to win. She had not been quite right, but at least she also had not been wrong. Clave and Circle were balancing each other out when it came to power, sometimes the odds were more in the favor of the one, the next day they were more in favor of the other party.

But leaving the Circle had also meant making their children leave their friends and their home. One moment Alec remembered being in England, the next he was dragged through a portal to New York, not giving him any chance to say goodbye to his friends. Or rather friend. Alec had been 15 when it happened, but he still remembered the helpless feeling 2 years later. 

His parents had told him to come to their office and the next thing he remembered was the open portal through which they pushed him. Because they very well knew that he would never had come willingly. Not without Jace. Jace. Saying his name still hurt as much as it had when he had left him behind, not given the chance to at least say goodbye. He had never heard from him again, all fire messages had returned unopened, all text messages had stayed unanswered, his parents beating him harshly when they caught him sending one.

The rift between Circle and Clave deepened, there was no way he could contact Jace in any other way. Not being underage. One more year and he would be a grown up. One more year until he would see him again.

Jace had been a natural force that had crashed into his life without warning when Alec had just been a kid. His father, Valentine Morgenstern, had dropped him of one day and left him in the care of the Lightwoods, the Heads of the London Institute and back then his followers. Valentine had come back from time to time to visit, but never stayed or taken Jace with him. But Jace had never seemed to care too much, having a strained relationship with his father anyway – as had Alec with his parents and probably every other Shadowhunter, given that all were raised to be the perfect soldier, the perfect warrior, the perfect killer. And being all these things didn’t match very well with being a child, being cared for.

But Alec had found Jace. Or maybe Jace had found him, he was not so sure about that, but it also didn’t really matter. They had found each other. They had comforted each other through the darkest of nights, until they had discovered that the nights were the safest. The nights belonged to them, not yet allowed to go on missions, the older ones busy with demon or Shadowhunter hunting, leaving the younger ones to themselves.

Alec and Jace had chased each other through the nightly streets of London, sneaking out of the Institute whenever possible to taste the freedom of the nights and the big city. They had thrown rockets into the Thames, they had climbed the London Eye and they had lain in Hyde Park to watch the stars above them. They had fought in the dead of night against each other with bare chests, hidden from sight through their glamours, the joy of the wind and the English rain on their skin mixed with the joy of feeling the other’s hands on their naked body.

Alec could still feel the taste of rain and freedom on his tongue. He could still taste Jace’s lips pressed onto his in a breathless, cocky kiss that was so unmistakably Jace and so quickly gone as it had come. Alec could still taste the flavor of loss on his lips when Jace had drawn away, laughing lightly, a mischievous gleam in his eyes before he had pinned him into the grass and demanded from Alec to yield, as they had been training. The kiss had been a promise for more.

They had just been boys and it had been Alec’s first kiss, just lips wet from summer rain pressed together, but it had been the best kiss ever, as it had been Jace’s lips. But as much as Alec still tasted Jace’s lips, he also still felt the stale taste of despair on his tongue the moment he had realized that his parents had dragged him away from him, choosing maybe the morally right side in this war, but for Alec the wrong one, breaking the unspoken promise the boys had made to each other that night in the park. Alec missed the nights with their rain and their stars, he missed the promise of freedom and love. He missed the feeling of being immortal.

*

_I want to live with you forever_

_At least for this one night_

_Let’s not ask any questions now,_

_As no answer fits for us anyway_

_With you I have the feeling_

_Of being immortal tonight_

_No matter what happens to us now_

_I know we are immortal_

_*_

With seventeen Alec was not yet considered an adult, but he was old enough that his parents took him with them to Idris for the peace negotiations with the Circle. Of course he was not allowed to be present during the negotiations – he should mingle with the youths of Idris and the sons and daughters of the other Clave members. Preferably the daughters. Alec just rolled his eyes. But he couldn’t hide that he was slightly nervous.

Of course Valentine was part of the negotiations, and Alec just hoped that after his parents had left Jace behind, Valentine had raised his son again and that he had thought along the same lines than Maryse and Robert and brought him also here. To mingle. With girls, of course, preferably.

Alec did what he always did when he was nervous – he trained. The general training room was a huge room with a gallery for everyone to observe. The room was not crowded, but a few other kids were training, some alone, some one-on-one. Alec went for the punching bag and without thinking too much, he discarded his shirt before he started. Soon he fell in a soothing rhythm of punches and kicks. He loved the way his muscles worked under his skin, his body being now more the one of a warrior than the one of a boy. Permanent runes and white scars from faded ones covered his back and chest in a web of thin scars and black lines.

His breathing was still even, even though he had already started to sweat lightly, being not used to the summer heat in Idris. He worked the bag with a combination of punches and kicks when suddenly a shiver ran over his body, making his skin break into goosebumps all over. He felt someone’s hot gaze on him as if the person was standing in front of him. He knew that stare. And he knew the kind of smug and cocky smile that played around the someone's lips while his eyes followed every of his movements. He swallowed hard and turned around to look up. And there he was, standing on the gallery, watching him intently. Alec’s breath caught in his throat. Jace.

He looked older than he had in his memory. When he took in Jace, it was as if he looked into a mirror. The boy had grown into a man. A warrior. But his eyes were still the same. Mismatched, mischievous and full of promises Alec was intent to hold him accountable for this time. Jace’s smile deepened when their eyes locked and he saw his smile reflected on Alec’s face. He raised an eyebrow and without further ado, Jace turned around and left the training area, trusting Alec to follow. And of course he did.

It was early evening, the sun had not yet settled. The air was still hot, a harsh contrast to the usually cold English nights both had been used to. But it was also not yet night, it was not yet their time. Jace took the main entrance without looking back. He went a few steps on the main road before he suddenly jumped on the wall that was following the road’s sideline, his runes lighting up golden. He sat down on top of the wall and for the first time, he looked back, extending a hand to Alec without questioning if he was there.

Alec huffed but jumped to take the outstretched hand, the wall too high to jump on it without his runes – and he didn’t want to bother with activating them, not when he could put his hand in Jace’s instead.

A jolt ran through them when their hands connected, for the first time in two long years. Jace laughed his breathless, cocky and simultaneously innocent laugh only Jace managed to laugh, a sound Alec had missed as much as he would have missed oxygen to breathe. Jace pulled him up, nearly losing his balance in the process but they managed to stay on the wall.

“Follow me,” Jace whispered in Alec’s ear and all Alec could think what else he was supposed to do. What else would he do than follow?

Jace had grown up in Idris until his father had decided that raising a son and leading an uprising was too much trouble, leaving his son on the doorstep of the London Institute. But Jace still knew Idris like the back of his hand. He started to jog, jumping from wall to wall that were running through Idris like in medieval, mundane towns. And Alec followed, his steps not as certain as Jace’s, but he was a trained Shadowhunter, he had no problems with keeping up.

Finally Jace jumped down and Alec let himself fall so that he hit the ground just next to him. A little too close maybe, maybe not close enough. But he could feel Jace’s hot breath on his slightly sweaty skin, making his whole body humming with joy and anticipation.

They stood in front of a small beautiful lake, a few boats were dancing on the water, but no one was to be seen. All Shadowhunters were at the Accords Hall for the peace talks. All, except them.

“The first in the water wins.” Jace grinned wickedly at Alec, while already kicking his boots off and stripping out of his pants. Alec just rolled his eyes while doing the same. Jace had always liked to play a little dirty. Alec had always loved that about him.

As soon as pants and shirt were thrown off, Jace started to run, Alec following him suit. A little pier was leading into the water and of course Jace was faster, having had a head start. Without hesitation he dived into the water head first. Drops of water sparkled in the sun when Jace hit the surface and Alec couldn’t help but think how beautiful it looked. How beautiful Jace looked.

He held his breath while he jumped, the cold water feeling like heaven on his still sweaty and hot skin. When he surfaced again, shaking his head so that the water drops flew high in the air, he felt Jace’s gaze on him with the same expression he had had while he had watched Jace diving. He saw the same awe reflected that he had felt.

Now it was Alec’s turn to grin wickedly while he approached Jace with two quick strokes. He embraced Jace who gasped in surprise when Alec tried to push him under. But it was just a second before Jace pushed back, trying to do the same with Alec. The feel of cool skin on skin was heaven, Alec wanted to never let go while they fought in the water playfully. They managed to pull each other under the surface, still continuing to fight for the upper hand. When the need to breathe forced them to surface, they didn’t let go. They just held on to each other, gasping for air before they tried to push the other under again. Alec felt Jace’s body shaking with silent laughter, the same laughter he felt bubbling in his stomach. He had missed this so much. He had missed Jace so much. Alec had been drowning since the day his parents had forced him to go and Jace was his dry land, allowing him to finally breathe again.

Breathlessly Jace pushed himself out of the water. The sun was finally about to set, painting the lake in golden and pinkish tones. Jace smiled down on Alec who was still in the water, extending his hand for the second time. And Alec took it, without hesitation, Jace's slightly smaller hand fitting just perfectly into his own. Jace pulled Alec up before he dragged him to a small beach, hidden behind bushes and trees. Jace let himself fall onto the ground, groaning contently when his skin connected with the still warm sand. For the third time he extended his hand and Alec just laughed, letting himself be pulled next to him.

Both boys panted lightly, their hands still entangled. Jace rubbed small circles with his thumb over the back of Alec’s hand. Alec could barely suppress his moan. But he was silenced by lips that were pressed against his, wet lips that tasted like freedom and rain, like night and forever. Alec shivered when he pressed back, his body jolting with joy and his skin covered with goosebumps that had nothing to do with being cold, but all with Jace’s sun-warm body next to him.

Jace entangled his hand in Alec’s hair, pulling him even closer. He still kissed Alec with closed lips, but soon Alec felt Jace’s tongue licking over his lips. The sensation was strange and exactly what Alec had longed for since the day in the park where he had felt Jace’s lips on his own for the very first time. His lips opened and he moaned when he felt Jace’s tongue slip in. Alec’s eyes had slid shut and he saw the stars of the night explode behind his eyelids while Jace tongue started to explore his mouth. Tentatively he let his own tongue wander, circling Jace’s more forcefully when he heard Jace moan in response.

When finally their lungs screamed for air they drew away, Jace laughing his breathless laugh Alec could kill for to just hear it one more time. Alec smiled while his hand followed Jace’s jawline, that had become sharper since he had last seen him, making his features more manly and less boyish, but still so totally Jace. His hands trailed further down, mapping out the familiar runes and the new ones, runes that not he had applied, but should have. Jace’s skin felt hot from the warm sand he was lying on. Small drops of water were still lingering on his neck and Alec just couldn’t help but lick them away, pressing small kisses to Jace’s throat afterwards. Alec felt his cheeks redden while doing it, but the way Jace relaxed and tensed at the same time told him he was doing something right. 

This was all new to him, he only had kissed once. He only had ever kissed Jace. But Jace was not new to him, Jace was familiar so he looked up and kissed Jace again, pressing his lips against Jace’s, his lips parting slightly, waiting for Jace’s tongue to take possession. And of course Jace complied, smiling into the kiss. His hands scratched over Alec’s back lightly, causing the goosebumps to return.

The golden light of a setting sun had turned into grey, twilight taking over, turning day into night. Both boys shivered when they felt the air around them change. Night was their time. They were children of the night, always had been, still were and always would be. Because at night, they were immortal.

_*_

_We could be standing on a busy freeway_

_We could be balancing on the top of a roof_

_While our eyes were closed and we counted to ten_

_Nothing would happen to us just then_

_Because with you I have the feeling_

_Of being immortal tonight_

_No matter what happens to us now_

_I know we are immortal_

_*_

When they stopped kissing, their bodies were covered with sand, their lips were red and swollen and their eyes shone bright in the whitish light of the moon. Jace’s smile was even a little smugger than usual when he looked at Alec, taking in his undone state. He kissed him again before his lips found his ear, biting lightly down on his earlobe before Alec heard the words that didn’t need to be spoken but he liked to hear anyway.

“Follow me.”

Again he wondered what else he was supposed to do. Jace yanked him up and started to run again, towards the pier. Without hesitation Jace jumped into the black water, laughing when Alec stopped to just look at him and admire his body. He held out his hand, as if he wanted Alec to pull him up. But when their hands met, Jace let himself fall back into the water, pulling Alec with him. Alec yelped in surprise and landed on top of him, their lips finding each other again while the water clashed over their heads.

They kissed and scrubbed their skin free of sand and dirt, the moon the only witness. Jace kissed Alec now the way Jace did everything else. Demanding, a bit bossy, a bit teasing, a bit cocky and full of joy and love for Alec. Alec kissed back the way he did all things: in earnest, with all his soul and heart and full of joy and love for Jace.

When they started to shiver from the cold air and water, Jace cocked his head towards one of the boats. Before Alec could protest Jace had already started to swim towards it with quick, strong strokes, leaving Alec no other option than to follow him again.

They pushed themselves onto the small boat, the wooden floor was still a little warm from the hot summer sun. Briefly they just lay their, panting lightly, staring at the night sky, their hands entwined. When Alec’s belly started to grumble lightly, they hadn’t eaten dinner, Jace stood up to search the boat for something to eat. He grinned when he returned, nothing to eat in hand but with two brown bottles.

“What’s that?” Alec asked while stretching his arm to take the bottle.

“Beer.” Jace laughed at Alec’s face. “Better than nothing.”

Alec was not so sure about that but he took it anyway, hissing lightly when he cut his finger on the crown cap. Blood spilled instantly like it often was with small wounds on fingers. Before Alec could think, Jace had already taken his finger with a tenderness that would surprise anyone who knew him but Alec. While locking eyes Jace took Alec’s finger in his mouth and _sucked_ on it lightly. Alec’s lips parted in a groan, the way Jace looked sucking his finger, the way it felt did things to Alec he had never thought possible.

“There. All good again,” Jace whispered while blowing on the wound, pressing a light kiss to it. Alec was speechless for a moment, but then Jace took the bottle back to open it with his own, his bottle opening on the rail afterwards with a practiced move.

“Cheers.” With a wicked grin Jace didn’t clink his bottle against Alec’s but on top of it, causing the beer to foam and pour out of the bottle in a messy steam. Alec cursed under his breath before his mouth sealed the bottle, swallowing down the bitter liquid to not cause a mess. Alec shuddered lightly at the taste, but he swallowed anyway, Jace’s breathless laughter ringing in his ears. But the bitter taste was soon sweetened when Jace’s lips found his again, kissing him senseless until Alec felt drunk in a way that had nothing to do with the beer in his hands but all with the way Jace’s lips felt on his own. The night was dark and Alec had never felt better, because at night they were immortal.

_*_

_We’ve made each other easy and light_

_Without falling we're sitting on top of a cloud_

_Up there everything is safe because we’re on the run_

_Until the morning sun calls us back again_

_Only with you I have the feeling_

_Of being immortal tonight_

_I know nothing can happen to us now_

_Because we are immortal, we are immortal tonight_

*

Alec looked at Jace who stood behind his father, his stance mirroring his own. The peace talks had ended without an agreement, to no one’s surprise. The Circle stood left, the Clave on the right side of the Accords Hall, facing each other silently.

Alec’s back was straight to the point it hurt, his hands clasped behind his back, his feet hip width apart. The morning mercilessly had dawned and remade them into something they didn’t want to be but were. Soldiers, warriors, killers. They were mortal again. They looked straight ahead, no emotions flickering over their faces. Perfectly raised sons. Until, inevitably, their heads turned slightly to face each other and their eyes locked.

The gleam in Jace’s eyes returned, the gleam Alec would die for to see it just one last time. Without any further warnings, they started to run. Alec pushed his father out of the way and ran towards the door, Jace following on his heels. He took the stairs to run towards the rooftop, as sometimes the only way to go was up. He felt Jace’s breath in his neck, he heard Jace’s breathless laughter spilling out of his mouth, making the thin hairs on his neck rise.

Alec reached the rooftop but didn’t stop running. Jace was still behind him, his feet hammering on the ground in a steady rhythm, still laughing. When Alec reached the edge, he jumped. Without hesitation, without having to think. Even though he knew that he had no chance to reach the roof of the next building. With runes the jump was dangerous, without runes it was suicidal. And Alec hadn’t had any time to activate his runes. But nevertheless he jumped as far as he could and just before he started to fall, he felt Jace’s hand on his shoulder, pushing him forward. At the same time Alec’s body lit up with the force of all his runes and he gasped in surprise when he didn’t fall but flew further, until his feet hit the solid ground of the other building. He rolled away just as Jace did next to him, Jace’s eyes shining in a golden light Alec had never seen before.

Alec started to laugh the moment his feet hit solid ground, but that didn’t stop him from running. He ran as fast as he could and jumped from building to building, always followed by Jace, their runes glowing in the hot summer sun. Their hearts beat in the same feverish rhythm, their breaths were ragged but they just couldn’t stop laughing, they just couldn’t stop feeling free. They had to make it through the day, just through this day. Because they were children of the night and at night, they would be immortal again.

_Only with you I have the feeling_

_Of being immortal tonight_

_I know nothing can happen to us now_

_Because we are immortal, we are immortal tonight_

**Author's Note:**

> Unsterblich - Die Toten Hosen
> 
> Ich will mit dir für immer leben  
> Wenigstens in dieser einen Nacht  
> Lass uns jetzt beide keine Fragen stellen  
> Weil keine Antwort für uns passt
> 
> Mit dir hab' ich dieses Gefühl  
> Dass wir heut Nacht unsterblich sind  
> Egal, was uns jetzt noch geschieht  
> Ich weiß, dass wir unsterblich sind
> 
> Wir könnten auf 'ner vollen Fahrbahn stehen  
> Auf einem Dachfirst balancieren  
> Unsere Augen wären zu und wir zählten bis zehn  
> Es würde uns trotzdem nichts passieren
> 
> Denn mit dir hab' ich das Gefühl  
> Dass wir heut Nacht unsterblich sind  
> Egal, was uns jetzt noch geschieht  
> Ich weiß, dass wir unsterblich sind
> 
> Wir haben uns gegenseitig leicht gemacht  
> Sitzen auf 'ner Wolke und stürzen nie ab  
> Hier geht's uns gut, denn wir sind auf der Flucht  
> Bis die Sonne uns am Morgen wieder zurückholt
> 
> Ich hab nur mit dir dieses Gefühl  
> Dass wir heut Nacht unsterblich sind  
> Ich weiß, es kann uns nichts geschehen  
> Weil wir unsterblich sind, unsterblich sind  
> Unsterblich sind, unsterblich sind


End file.
